Thread: Thieres-Issard Quality Control!!!!!!!

Hi, I am new to using a straight razor, but having a couple of quid decided to purchase 2 Thiers-Issard Historical razors (new) model Bison-snake wood. Very nice spine that has a scolloped edge to it. The second razor was a gift for a good friend (I am married by the way and strictly hetrosexual).

Okay, on opening them the instructions stated they should be ready to shave out of the box, I took this with a pinch of salt however and as they both failed the hair test. Now the interesting thing is that both blades will not sit flat, the cutting edge of both have a curvature that means on stopping you are only getting the middle of the blade sharpe on one side and the reverse on the other.

I am no rocket scientist but to me this means the blades have been incorrectly ground and to correct this would be difficult and possibly given the thickness of the blades almost impossible as the falt may get worse higher up the blade rather than better. I have contacted the seller and obviously complained and awaiting a respose, I can understand this is not his fault as they come sealed in a box. However would I be right in thinking these razors are unfit for the purpose they were intended for. They were not cheap coming in at round £190 a pop. I might also add my razor has gold spots along the spine , tip of the blade and also requires light pressure on the spine to guide it into the scales without touching the sides.

Have any other persons experieced quality control issues with Theires-Issard Historical range? Only they quote a very high failure rate on these blanks due to the stringent quality controls employed within the company. Sadly It appears to me that they are not so keen to reject a razor as they might have been in the past. They are not cheap razors when compaired to many other makes and I would have thought the extra price would have been reflected in the razors quality.

Does anyone know what I can expect from Thiers-Issard in the way of correcting this, as I am not going to except a repair that is likely to shorten the life of the razor by having a lot of my blade ground away. Would it be advisable to contact Thiers-Issard direct on this issue as at the end of day the fault is theirs not the retailers. Does anyone have contact details for Thiers-Issard so I can start the process of putting this right.

By the way this will not put me off buying a straight razor, it has just taken the edge off what should have been a pleasant introduction into the world of having a real shave.